Kuemper returned to Arizona for further evaluation, coach Rick Tocchet said Wednesday. The goalie left early in the third period of a 3-2 win at the Colorado Avalanche on Monday in the opener of a seven-game road trip.
"I talked to him [Tuesday] before he left. He was sore," Tocchet said. "He's going back, get further evaluated and start the rehab part of it. He's one of those guys, he's ready to get going to get better. We don't know exactly how long he's going to be -- a week-to-week thing and we'll go from there."
Kuemper is 7-7-2 with a 2.41 goals-against average, .914 save percentage and one shutout in 18 games (all starts) this season. He missed nearly 10 weeks last season because of a lower-body injury.
"He's a guy that he'll take a negative situation and be positive about it," Tocchet said. "He has to. He can't be down in the dumps. Our team can't be down in the dumps. We don't have time for that. He was gingerly walking around, but he didn't have his head down. He was trying to show the players, 'Hey, you guys can still do this.' I like that about him."
Antti Raanta made 16 saves in relief of Kuemper and is expected to receive the majority of the starts. He's 4-2-1 with a 3.65 GAA and .903 save percentage in seven games (six starts).
"He's a capable guy," Tocchet said of Raanta on Tuesday. "You saw him last night what he did for us and obviously how he's matured over the years.
"'Rants' is hard on himself. He's a great guy and everyone loves to play for him, block shots, win for the guy. I've seen the swagger; when he has the swagger, he's got to have that swagger. Sometimes his body language, he's mad at himself. I've seen some stretches where he's won five, six games in a row where he's stolen games for us. That's the type of goalie he is. He's got the ball now, time to have that swagger."
Raanta was 9-9-1 with a 2.61 GAA, .922 save percentage and one shutout while Kuemper was sidelined last season but was unfit to play most of a four-game series win against the Nashville Predators in the best-of-5 Stanley Cup Qualifiers.
"I feel great," Raanta said. "It's been a couple bumps in the road this season, but hopefully those are behind me. I've been working hard to get back to my best and everything feels good on the ice and off the ice. Obviously, you get a lot of confidence from yesterday. I feel like I haven't been able to be that consistent this year. There have been some really good periods, some really good saves, some really good 55 minutes in a game and then some not-that-good things."
The Coyotes (12-10-3), who are fifth in the eight-team Honda West Division, play at the Avalanche on Wednesday (9 p.m. ET; ALT, FS-A, NHL.TV). The top four teams in each division will qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
"We're going to play a ton of games and we're going to have to manage it, and we're going to have to get [goalie Adin Hill] ready to play some games for us," Tocchet said Tuesday. "We'll make sure 'Rants' gets his rest because I'm not sure we can play him six, seven games in a row with the schedule we're in."
NHL.com independent correspondent Rick Sadowski contributed to this report
